Pallet enclosure



Jan. 24, 1967 D. RAWLE PALLET ENCLOSURE 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 18,1965 Jan. 24, 1967 D. RAWLE PALLET ENCLOSURE 4 Sheets-$heet 2 Filed Feb.18, 1965 Jan. 24, 1967 D. RAWLE 3,300,077

PALLET ENCLOSURE Filed Feb, 18, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Jan. 24, 1967 D,RA 3,300,077

PALLET ENCLOSURE Filed Feb. 18, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 United StatesPatent Other:

Patented Jan. 24, 1967 3,300,077 PALLET ENCLOSURE David Rawle, Berwyn,Pa, assignor to Clinch-Tite Corporation, Berwyn, Pin, a corporation ofDelaware Filed Feb. 18, 1965, Ser. No. 433,738 Claims. (Cl. 217-65) Thisapplication is a continuation-in-part of my application Serial Number357,636, filed April 6, 1964, and now abandoned.

This invention relates to enclosures for materials handling pallets, andprovides'an improved enclosure having a locked and optionally sealedcorner structure in which the enclosure walls are operable to transmitto the corners either outward or inward forces in such a manner that thelock and seal are reinforced in proportion to the amount of force sotransmitted. In addition, the invention provides an improved device forconnecting a removable wall to the adjacent walls of a pallet enclosure.

The requirements of enclosed p-alletized materials handlin-g vary,enclosures sometimes being used to provide protection to the contentsagainst external forces, other times to segregate and confine loosebulk-handled material. Obviously, as the uses vary, so do therequirements for an effective enclosure. Very often, tightly sealedcorners are required, with the seal being resistant to development ofleaks during use. At the same time, it is highly desirable that theenclosure be easily disassembled when not in use, to facilitate itsstorage or return to the point of origin. The enclosure must exhibitstrength in various respects; in some cases the main concern isresistance to external pressure, in other cases to internal pressure.Other important factors are versatility, interchangeability ofindividual wall sections, and the ability to remove an individual wallto gain access to the contents without having to disassemble the entireenclosure even when there is little maneuvering room in front of thewall being removed. Finally, all of the above requirements must be metwhile keeping the simplicity of design .and materials at a maximum andthe cost at a minimum.

The greatest difliculty exists when sealed corners are required. Highpressure from the enclosed contents or a "sharp blow from the outsidecan often create leaks in the corners.

It is thus a particular object of this invention to provide a palletenclosure with corners locked against inward or outward hinging, saidlock being independent of the incorporation of a given corner into acomplete enclosure.

A further object of the invention is to provide a pallet enclosure withsealed corners so structured that the force of external or internalpressure is caused to reinforce,

rather than break, the corner seals.

A still further object of the invention is toprovide such a palletenclosure assembled from individual wall sections, with the individualwalls capable of being removed in tight quarters without disturbing therest of the enclosure.

A further object is to provide improved means for fastening togetheradjacent walls in a pallet enclosure having removable walls.

A still further object of the invention is -to provide connectingelements, advantageously hooks and eyes formed by appropriately bent butrig-id in use, metal rods, e.g. of /5 or A2 inch thickness, installednear the vertical edges of the walls in such a manner that the walls canbe joined together, in one embodiment, by means of relative verticalmovement, the connecting elements bringing adjacent walls together atthe corners in tight end-to-face abutment. In another embodiment, arotatable connecting element is employed to avoid the necessity ofrelative vertical movement of walls. Importantly, in all embodiments theconnecting elements provide a vertical hinging axis so located that thearea of end-to-face abutment is spaced in either an inward or outwardsense from said axis. The hinging axis is rigidly defined, in that itshorizontal position is substantially rigidly fixed relative to the twoadjacent walls. Although the terms hinge-connected and hinging axis areemployed herein, they should not be taken to mean that the walls of theenclosure are freely hinged with respect to each other, since in factall corners of the invention are locked against hinging in at least onedirection, with one embodiment having corners locked against hinging inboth directions, Rather, the hinging terminology is intended to reflectthe fact the walls are joined to define an axis about which moments areproduced by attempting to rotate adjacent Walls against the cornerlocking of the invention.

In addition to corner locking, the invention provides an optionalcontinuously sealed corner feature with both the lock and the seal beingreinforced in response to internal or external pressure, depending uponthe sense (i.e. inward or outward) of the spacing between the hingingaxis and the end-to-face abutment. For example, to reinforce againstinternal pressure, the abutment is spaced outwardly of the hinging axis;outward pressure against the abutting walls produces turning momentsabout the corner axis causingthe abut-ting surfaces of the walls topress tighter against each other, thereby preventing substantial outwardhinging motion and reinforcing the lock or sea-l. The reinforcementoccurring at a given corner is wholly independent of the other walls ofthe enclosure. Furthermore, when the four walls are incorporated into asingle enclosure unit, the walls are additionally restrained againsthinging motion in both the inward and outward senses, thus providing acompletely stable-enclosure without the use of bands, wires, slats orother reinforcing materials. All that remains is to secure the enclosureto the pallet base and add a cover if such is desired. Depending uponthe nature of the cargo, either internally or externally hinged wallstructures may be chosen for installation on a standard pallet base.

In the drawings,

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an externally hinged embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a horizontal cross-section of one corner taken through a hookand eye assembly;

'FIG. 3 is a vertical section taken through line 3-3, FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a broken away perspective view showing walls being broughttogether to form a'corner;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an internally hinged embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a horizontal cross-section of one corner taken through a hookand eye assembly;

FIG. 7 is a vertical section taken through line 77 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a horizontal section of one corner of a third embodiment,taken through a hook and eye assembly;

FIG. 9 is a vertical cross-section taken through line 9-9 of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the third embodiment; FIG. 11 is aperspective view showing walls of the third embodiment being broughttogether to form a corner;

FIG. 12 is a horizontal cross-section through the corner of a variationof the third embodiment;

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of an externally hinged embodimentemploying a rotatable eye member; and

FIG. 14 is a side view of one corner of another embodiment having arotatable hook member.

Referring to the drawings, a typical wall structure 12 employed in theenclosure of the invention comprises a series of horizontal cleats 14and a continuous wall panel 16, the cleats attached to the panel,usually but not necessarily externally, and strengthening it. Normally,the cleats 14 and panel 16 will be coterminous to provide smoothvertical ends 19 on the wall structures.

Considering first the externally hinged embodiment of FIGS. 14, each eyeelement 25 and hook element 26 has a rigid supporting shaft 27sandwiched between the cleats and the panel, with the hook and eyeprotruding from the end 19 of the wall structure 12. A right angledgroove in the inner surface of the cleat provides shaft passage 28, inwhich is housed the shaft 27 having a similarly right angled form,thereby firmly anchoring it in the wall structure. It will beappreciated that the entire rigid-in-use hook and eye elements of thelocked and sealed corners can be formed from originally straight metalrods to provide a very durable yet inexpensive construction.

In order to provide the desired end-to-face abutment when the walls areconnected together, the distance between the center of the eye 25 andthe end 19 of the eye-bearing wall structure is equal to the distancebetween the center of the hook and the face 20 of the hook-bearing wallstructure, this common distance being denoted as X in FIG. 2.

In connection with this limitation it is of utmost importance that anymanufacturing tolerances keep the distance between the end and the axisof its connecting member smaller rather than larger than the distancebetween the face and the axis of its connecting member. Thus, when thewall structures extend at right angles to each other, end-to-facecontact is always insured and in the case of slight dissimilarity in thetwo distances, the wood will resiliently deform under pressure toachieve the lock and seal.

As best shown in FIG. 4, each pair of adjacent walls are assembled,preferably by means of relative vertical movement, and define avertically elongated end-to-face abutment area 31, as well as a verticalhinging axis 30 passing through the center of the hook and eye.According to the invention, in the externally hinged embodiment, thehinging axis 34) is spaced outwardly frornthe abutment area 31. Sincethe abutment in this embodiment is made up wholly of abutment betweenadjacent continuous panels 16, both a lock and continuous seal areprovided at the same time. Any application of inward forces to anassembled corner serves to reinforce the seal at that corner, and at thesame time the walls are locked against substantial inward hinging. Thisembodiment of the invention is particularly useful when there is adanger that external pressure against the enclosure will break thecorner seal. Furthermore, the external location of the connectingelements enables faces 20 to form a completely smooth interior, welladapted to carry granular or semi-liquid substances without interferencewith the irregular or creviced elements of the enclosure.

It will be noted that since in the particular construction of panels 16and cleats 14 shown, abutment seal 31 consists exclusively ofend-to-face abutment of the panels 16, the character of the seal can becontrolled simply by control of the panel substance. Of course, thehooks and eyes can be interchanged from the positions shown, and thedirection of the hook can be either up or down, except that they shouldbe arranged so that at least one wall can be removed from the assembledenclosure by a simple upward movement.

The internally hinged embodiment of the invention is shown in FIGS. 5-7,and employs the same corner looking principle as does the externallyhinged embodiment. In this case, however, the hinging axis 30a is spacedin an inward sense from the end-to-face abutment 31a, the abutment thuslocking the walls against outward hinging.

Again, the angled shafts 27a of the hook and eye elements are sandwichedin grooves 28a in the cleats. In this embodiment, however, the hooks 26aand eyes 25a protrude from holes 17a in panels 16a into the interior ofthe enclosure.

Once again the distance X (FIG. measured between the center of the hookto face 20a of the hookbearing wall structure, and from the center ofthe eye to the end 19a of the eye-bearing wall structure is critical toproper end-to-face abutment of the assembled walls. Of course, thedistance X is here measured inwardly from face 200, rather thanoutwardly as before.

Another feature of the internally hinged embodiment is the fact thecleats 14a abut panels 16a supplementing the abut-ment between adjacentpanels 16a to give a much wider abutment 31a at the cleats, which isuseful in some applications, the wide abutment greatly increasing thestrength of the corners and their locked resistance to outward hinging.While the above-mentioned abutments between adjacent panels 16a as wellas panels 16a and cleats 1 4a provide locked corners, only thepanel-topanel abutment extends continuously along the entire length ofthe corners. This panel-to panel abutment is generally not sulficient togive tightly sealed corners, due to a secondary hinging axis set up atthe outer edge of the cleat to-panel abutment. In order to providetightly and continuously sealed corners in this embodiment, it isnecessary simply to add vertical cleats 15a along the lengths of theappropriate outer vertical edge of each wall, as shown at the corners inFIG. 5. The abutment of cleat 15a to face 20a of the adjacent wall isthen reinforced in response to attempted outward hinging, on the sameprinciple as described earlier. In this manner, cleat-to-panel abutmentis provided along the entire vertical extent of the corners, giving atight seal.

. The embodiments described thus far employ the unique cornerreinforcing principle of the invention to prevent hinging in only onesense, either inward or outward. In order to have corner locking andseal reinforcement in a single enclosure in response to hinging attemptsin both the inward and outward senses, it is necessary to have theportions of abutment area spaced both inwardly and outwardly from thehinging axis. A simple way to accomplish this, shown in FIGS. 8l1, is tosplit the abutment 3112 with recesses 32b in one of the walls, theconnecting elements 25b on that wall being mounted in said recesses. Therecess will advantageously be in the face 20!) of the wall and will betall enough to allow vertical movement of the non-recessed connectingelement s ufiicient to permit hooking and unhookin-g of said elements.The non-recessed element will protrude from the end 19/) of the adjacentpanel.

In order to allow assembly and disassembly of this embodiment,horizontal slots 4012 are provided in the cleats in which the recesses32b are cut, slots 4M communicating with the recesses. The eyes 25b arethen passed through slots 4% in order to enter or leave the recesses. Inassembling this embodiment, three corners are assembled in the usualmanner, without necessarily employing slots 40b. The fourth panel willhave its eyes, except for the top eye, inserted through the slots on oneside by relative horizontal movement. Relative vertical movement willthen interlock the connecting elements.

By adding vertical cleats 15b as shown in FIG. 10 along the outervertical edges of the walls, an outwardly spaced abutment seal isprovide-d along the entire vertical extent of the corner. Verticalcleats 15b can be segmented and inserted between horizontal cleats 14b,or

the horizontal cleats can be shortened to allow continuous verticalcleats.

While only one wall per corner need be vertically cleated to provide afully sealed corner, the use of a second continuous vertical cleat tohouse recess 32 is highly desirable, giving additional strength.

Naturally, the recessing can be replaced with parallel slats 33b, shownin FIG. 12, as will be well understood by those skilled in the art.

In all embodiments the spacing between hinging axis and abutment sealscan be varied in degree as well as sense, a variation in degreeaffecting the leverage about the axis, and, therefore, the quality ofthe seal reinforcement.

A remarkable feature of the invention is that a variety of advantageouscorner assemblies can be obtained by simply controlling the sense anddegree of spacing between the abutment seals and the hinging axis, yetall at a minimum of cost. In no case is it necessary to use more thanthe simplest of wooden constructions, with a few metal hooks and eyes.In comparison, the prior art has employed expensive and elaboratestructures, often of metal, without providing the advantages disclosedherein.

When not in use, the individual walls are easily stacked out of the Way.Furthermore, it is possible, during transit, to remove an individualwall without disrupting the entire enclosure. In any of the embodimentsthe walls are easily assembled together and then attached in Well knownways to a standard pallet base. A cover may be added when desired.

An improved form of connecting element, particularly useful in thelocked corner enclosures of the invention, is shown in FIGS. 13-14. Inthe externally hinged embodiment of FIG. 13 vertical cleats 15c areemployed on the exterior of panel 16c, with one such cleat located ateach vertical edge of the wall. Each rotatable connecting element 42 issandwiched between cleat 15c and panel 16c, with shaft portion 44elongated and extending all the way across cleat 150, to allow thedesired rotation. At one end of shaft 44 is an interlocking portion inthe form of eye 43, the shaft being bent at the other end to form handle45. Handle 45 and eye 43 lie in a common plane. A recess 50 is cut incleat 15c, allowing the shaft 44 to be slid away from the adjacent Wallin order to retract eye 43 behind end surface 19c of the wall structure,as shown at the middle and lower hook and eye connections of FIG. 13.Hook member 41 is located at the end of the next adjacent wall structurein the same manner as the embodiment of FIG. 1, except that the hook 47must be sufficiently short to allow the eye to interlock with it bypassing fully over it in a rotational movement through 180". Each wallstructure in the enclosure has rotatable eye members along one end andhook members along the other end. The recesses 50 can be eliminated, ifdesired, leaving rotatable but nonretracta-ble eye members.

In operation, the wall structures are assembled into an enclosure bysimply retracting all the rotatable members 42 behind edge 19c, placingtwo panels together in end-to-face abutment, and locking in turn eachpair of connecting elements by raising handle 45 to its uppermostposition (see the lower connection of FIG. 13), sliding it toward theadjacent wall until the eye 43 is positioned behind hook 47, thenrotating the handle downwardly through 180", the eye passing fully overhook 47 and encircling, in its locked position, shaft portion 49. Rubberband 51, encircling cleat 15c, in groove 51', is then slipped overhandle 45 to secure member 42 in place.

The system just described is highly advantageous in enablinginstallation or removal of a single wall, e.g., while in transit. Oncethe connecting elements are unlocked, the physical placement orwithdrawal of the wall structure can be accomplished by exclusivelateral sliding of the wall relative to the rest of the enclosure, asindicated by the arrows on the walls of FIG. 13. No threading ofconnecting elements, while simultaneously moving the wall, is required.

In the embodiment of FIG. 14 a rotatable hook member 42d replaces themember 42 of FIG. 13. Member 42d is identical to member 42 except that,instead of an eye 43, a hook 52 extends from one end of shaft 44d as theinterlocking portion, at right angles to handle 45d at the other end ofthe shaft. Member 42d is installed in the wall structure in the samemanner as member 42. The left hand end of the adjacent wall structurecontains a slot 53 to receive hook 52. In the embodiment shown, slot 53is formed by sandwiching a bent rod 54 between cleat 15d and panel 16d,leaving a loop 55 extending out from wall surface 19d. Optionally, othertypes of slots may be employed, including slots formed wholly in thewooden wall structure.

In operation, to lock hook member 42d into slot 53, after adjacentpanels are placed in end-to-face abutment, handle 45d is rotated into ahorizontal plane, bringing hook 52 into a vertical plane. By sliding thehandle toward the adjacent wall the hook will pass into loop 55. Thenthe handle is simply lowered, locking hook 52 into loop 55 (FIG. 15),and the rubber band is slipped into place.

The detailed description given above is intended to be suggestive of themany possible embodiments of the invention, and various changes in thespecific details will be obvious in view of the spirit and scope of theinvention.

What is claimed is:

1. In -a pallet enclosure, a corner construction comprising a wall endand a wall face defined by adjacent first and second wall structures,said wall structures having respective connecting means adapted tointerlock to bring said end and face into abutment and to rigidly definea hinging axis spaced in at least one predetermined sense from at leasta portion of said end-to-face abutment, said axis and said end-to-faceabutment cooperating to lock said wall structures against hinging motionin the sense opposite to said predetermined sense, one of saidconnecting means comprising a rotatable member having a supporting shaftjournaled in said wall structure and a locking portion at one end ofsaid shaft, adapted to interlock with a corresponding locking portion ofthe other of said connecting means, said rotatable member being adaptedto be rotated about said shaft between a locked position in which saidlocking portion of said rotatable member is interlocked with saidcorresponding locking portion and an unlocked position in which saidlocking portion can be removed from said corresponding locking portion.

2. The construction of claim 1 wherein said shaft is slidable along itsaxis of rotation to move said rotatable member between an extendedposition in which said locking portion of said rotatable member extendsbeyond the end of its wall structure and a retracted position in whichsaid locking portion is retracted behind said wall end.

3. The construction of claim 1 wherein said locking portion of saidrotatable member comprises an eye, and said connecting means on saidadjacent wall comprises a vertically extending hook, said eye orientedrelative to said shaft so that the eye lies in a vertical plane whensaid rotatable member is in its locked position.

4. The construction of claim 1 wherein said locking portion of saidrotatable member comprises a hook and said connecting means on saidadjacent wall comprises a slot adapted to receive said hook.

5. A pallet enclosure having multiple wall structures wherein said wallstructures are constructed and arranged so that all but the last of saidwall structures can be locked together in a self-supporting structureduring assembly, and respective connecting means are disposed near theopposite vertical edges of the last Wall structure and near theremaining free vertical edges of said assembled Wall structures, saidconnecting means on said last wall structure adapted to cooperate withthe connecting means on said assembled wall structures to enable saidlast Wall structure to be assembled into said enclosure by means ofexclusive lateral sliding of said last wall relative to the rest of saidenclosure, said cooperating connecting means including a rotatablemember having a supporting shaft and a locking portion at one end ofsaid shaft, said rotatable member being adapted to be rotated about saidshaft between a locked position in which said locking portion is engagedwith a corresponding locking portion of said connecting means on theadjacent Wall structure, and an unlocked position in which said lockingportion of said rotatable member can be removed from said correspondinglocking portion, said last Wall being adapted to be locked into saidenclosure by rotating said rotatable member from said unlocked positioninto said locked position after the completion of said lateral sliding.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 910,792 1/1909Dahl 21743 1,089,707 3/1914 Hovorka l6192 1,135,583 4/1915 Hettesheimer21743 1,290,230 1/1919 Kenniker l6192 2,672,252 3/1954 Frear 217482,765,947 10/1956 Watkins 21748 2,808,956 10/1957 Johnson 21748 LOUIS G.MANCENE, Primary Examiner.

RAPHAEL H. SCHWARTZ, THERON E. CONDON,

Examiners

1. IN A PALLET ENCLOSURE, A CORNER CONSTRUCTION COMPRISING A WALL ENDAND A WALL FACE DEFINED BY ADJACENT FIRST AND SECOND WALL STRUCTURES,SAID WALL STRUCTURES HAVING RESPECTIVE CONNECTING MEANS ADAPTED TOINTERLOCK TO BRING SAID END AND FACE INTO ABUTMENT AND TO RIGIDLY DEFINEA HINGING AXIS SPACED IN AT LEAST ONE PREDETERMINED SENSE FROM AT LEASTA PORTION OF SAID END-TO-FACE ABUTMENT, SAID AXIS AND SAID END-TO-FACEABUTMENT COOPERATING TO LOCK SAID WALL STRUCTURES AGAINST HINGING MOTIONIN THE SENSE OPPOSITE TO SAID PREDETERMINED SENSE, ONE OF SAIDCONNECTING MEANS COMPRISING A ROTATABLE MEMBER HAVING A SUPPORTING SHAFTJOURNALED IN SAID WALL STRUCTURE AND A LOCKING PORTION AT ONE END OFSAID SHAFT, ADAPTED TO INTERLOCK WITH A CORRESPONDING LOCKING PORTION OFTHE OTHER OF SAID CONNECTING MEANS, SAID ROTATABLE MEMBER BEING ADAPTEDTO BE ROTATED ABOUT SAID SHAFT BETWEEN A LOCKED POSITION IN WHICH SAIDLOCKING PORTION OF SAID ROTATABLE MEMBER IS INTERLOCKED WITH SAIDCORRESPONDING LOCKING PORTION AND AN UNLOCKED POSITION IN WHICH SAIDLOCKING PORTION CAN BE REMOVED FROM SAID CORRESPONDING LOCKING PORTION.